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From: someshg@hpindda.HP.COM (Somesh Gupta)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: does AI kill?
Message-ID: <6560001@hpindda.HP.COM>
Date: 21 Jul 88 21:27:48 GMT
References: <53*nat@drao.nrc.cdn>
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA
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/ hpindda:comp.society.futures / bwk%mitre-bedford.ARPA@BU-IT.BU.EDU (Kort) /  4:40 am  Jul 20, 1988 /
AC?  [I am drawing a blank on that one.]

You are quite right, Elise.  Perhaps the most important thing we
personally consruct is our value system, yet there is scant guidance
for such a critical activity.  I did sign up for a course in Ethics
in Grad School.  It was an obscure course in the Philosophy Department,
and it mainly centered on then-current research in Social Choice Theory.

I am of the opinion that it is possible to construct a value system
associated with one's knowledge and skills.  If knowledge tells us
how to do things, values tell us whether it's a good idea.  But to
construct a value system, one has to be able to foresee the consequences
of one's actions.  Alas we are myopic.

I define a Value System as a collection of preferences which transforms
Knowledge into Wisdom.

As to your immediate question, I enjoy discussions of ethics, and I am
always on the lookout for others of similar interest.  Welcome to the
discussion, Elise.

Regards,

--Barry Kort
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